The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to a flexible and shaped article inserted or installed in or on a specific area, such as the instep area, of the foot and footwear which contacts the surface of a ball to optimize the gripping, control, and comfort of kicking a ball. There are many sports activities that include kicking a ball. Examples of such sports include soccer, football, rugby, Australian-rules football, and kickball. Conventional sports shoes that are available for these sports typically have an upper not very different from the uppers of other athletic shoes.
Features to optimize contact between the ball and shoe have been previously proposed. Hyde (U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,547) teaches a passive concave attachment to a shoe providing a pocket on the top of the foot to receive a football when it is kicked. Hannah (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,422,249 and 4,617,746) and Gerrand (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,421,936 and 6,637,132, and WO 2005/107508 A1) teach shoes having passive surfaces to optimize kicking of a ball. Nike, Inc. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,562,471 and 8,356,429 and 8,844,171) also teach shoes having passive surfaces to optimize the control of a ball. All said references are incorporated herein by this reference.
Each of the aforementioned related art inventions have various drawbacks and do not address the optimizations inherent in the current invention. Added surfaces to the footwear lose their tack and effectiveness with age, UV exposure, and from contact with dirt and field debris. Fixed shaped pockets and accessories placed on top of the footwear do not necessarily address all angles of a strike and can lessen accuracy from strikes off the center of these accessories.